The Carolina Panthers are in the midst of one of the highest stakes post season races in the NFL: the race to hire a competent head coach. Every year a handful of franchises compete for the services of a select few candidates. Few candidates actually take their new teams to the playoffs, fewer still to the Super Bowl.
The big names this year represent the handful of candidate archetypes that we see every year. Ben Johnson is the hotshot offensive coordinator with no experience in the top job. Jim Harbaugh has seen success at multiple levels as a head coach and is in the market for his next project.